Growing and Using Moringa, Comfrey, and Healing Herbs

Learn how to grow and use Moringa Trees, Comfrey, medicinal herbs, adaptogen herbs such as Jiaogulan, and herbal medicine to create vibrant health and an enriched life style. There are a number of herbs you can grown at home which is fun and great for your health.
Learn Tips on feeding your pets and livestock naturally with organic greens such as Comfrey, Kudzu, plantain, and Moringa. Get back to your roots in a healthy way.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Organic Moringa Powder: The Real Truth.....Lies and Deception

I get at least four calls a week on where to buy organic Moringa powder. The caller is adamant that organic certified Moringa powder is safe and free from unsafe ingredients and contamination. I have written several blogs on this subject, but I guess it is time for another one.

Your perception of the safety and purity of organic Moringa is misguided. This is just the truth. Here is evidence that illustrate this deception. I am presenting an order received by my company when I was first in business placed in 2010-2011 that came from India pre-packaged as organic certified. I had purchased it because of the many customers who called wanting organic certified. It was this quest to better satisfy my customers that cost me much money and many wasted months. Two shipments, one right after the other, almost destroyed my new business. Looking back, the destruction of that shipment saved my business in the long run. The FDA and its lab kept me from selling a product I thought was safe but was not. In my inexperience, I relied on the organic certified paperwork and reputation from another country. It could of cost me much, much more. Again this shipment was tested and bottled in India. It was organic certified. How many companies investigate through Europe the organic certificate they are relying on for that product?

1st Organic Certified Shipment Attempt:

Located a producer who had been selling his product in Europe for several years. He sent me his organic certificate as requested. He was a member of Manta and two other organizations. He had a website published. I did not check it out further. I sent him nearly $600.00. He had been very good with emails until I paid him. After no response on shipment of the product, I became worried. I took the certification number and contacted the government organization who issued the certificate to see what I could do. I got the disturbing news that the certificate was not his but belonged to another companies. He had stolen it, then changed the name of the real company to his name, then sent that certificate out to customers. He had been using this fraudulent certificate for several years. It happened that another big German company and myself both did not receive our orders. They issued a warrant against him but could never get him into court on the charges. He disappeared during the investigation. He is still listed in Manta as a business. He may have come back into the business world using a different company name. He is a crook still doing business in India. I never got my money returned. So unless you investigate the organic certificate they send you, you won't know if it is legal or not.

2nd Organic Certified Shipment Attempt:

I investigated this company through the government agency who issued the certificate. The company and organic certificate was legal . The head of the organic government agency assured me they were a good company and that the product was quality. I borrowed money to fund this order from family. I ordered $600.00 worth of Moringa powder in packages and in caps. I was really positive. The order came into the port of San Diego. Something about the packaging sent a red flag to customs so they tagged it for 'intense investigation'.

This meant that they take samples of the product and sent it in to a lab. While they do this the shipment in held by a holding company. After two days, you are charged $40.00 a day. After a week, they temporarily released it. That meant I could take the shipment home but not sell it until the FDA lab tests came in to clear it for sale. It took several weeks for the tests to come back. The shipment was contaminated and refused. I had to take it back to customs to be either destroyed or sent back under the supervision of Customs. They charge you to do either and you have no choice but to expend more money on a shipment that was refused entry. I was devastated. I did not sell product again until 2013 because I could not find a good source where I knew for sure I was selling quality product.

The original hold notice from the FDA is published at the end of this blog: In case you don't want to read the whole notice, here is what the FDA lab found in this shipment of pre-packaged organic certified Moringa Oleifera powder:

Actual charge: 501(a)(1) Filth findings: sample was found to contain over 1800 insect fragments in six subs examined for an average of 300 insect fragments per sub. One sub also contained 3 rat/mouse hair fragments.

The Scary Part of this Story ........

Now the scary part of this story is that this product shipped was ready to resell to customers.

The ONLY reason this contaminated shipment was discovered was because it had label violations.

If the label and packaging had not been questionable, the shipment would not have been examined further. The shipment would have been released to me and I would have sold it. It was my naive experience that these packages of organic certified product had been tested and were safe to sell. It was not.

Thousands of shipments go through customs every day and are notchecked. If all the paperwork looks good and the packaging looks legal, they send them right on through. This applies to herbs, spices, and Moringa products. Many companies are located in India or other countries. Their product is bottled in that country under their standards. You are relying on their paperwork to be honest which is questionable. It was a very painful, expensive import lesson. It made me realize my own misguided opinions about organic certified products.

Facts You May Not Know About Organic Certification standards:

USDA organic standards place NO LIMITS on levels of heavy metals contamination of certified organic foods.There is no limit to how much mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum is allowed in "organic" products.

There is no limit on the contamination of PCBs, BPA and
other synthetic chemicals that's allowed in certified organic foods,
super foods and supplements.

Organic certification does nothing to address environmental sources of pollution
such as chemtrails, contaminated irrigation water, and fallout from
industrial or chemical factories that might be nearby.

A certified
organic farmer can use polluted water on their crops and still have the crops labeled "organic."

Organic certificates apply to how the food is grown or produced. The organic farm must certify that he does not apply pesticides, herbicides, petroleum-based fertilizer, metals or synthetic chemicals on his crops. The soil must be free from these chemicals for a certain time period before the certificate can be granted. They do not test the water that feeds the crops. They do not test for heavy metals and other chemicals found in the water or the ground. The farmer is attesting to the facts he does not put those products on his crops.

The environmental standards of both India and China are very poor. Both these nations suffer from extensive pollution of their air and water resources.

China often uses human waste as fertilizer on their crops.

In India the Ganges River feeds crops for hundreds of miles. It is one of the most polluted rivers in the world with industrial pollution and waste: dead human and animal bodies floating in it: and full of disease organisms of all kinds. People bathe in this river while dead bodies float by. Check it out, this is all fact. I would question whether most of the workers in the fields picking your Moringa were tested for TB or health problems. I doubt that there are proper bathroom facilities or places to wash their hands. Remember they bathe in that polluted river. Here are facts taken from the site, About India, on the Ganges river in India. The following is a direct quote from their site. Visit the link underlined above to read more on this issue. Only 7 of India's 35 states have access to clean water. You buy your Moringa from India....good luck that it was grown in one of those 7.

"Ganges River Pollution

The Ganges River Pollution is now at such a high level that the
amount of toxins, chemicals and other dangerous bacteria found in the
river are now almost 3000 times over the limit suggested by the WHO as
'safe'.

The river directly and indirectly affects the largest population of any river in the world with over more than 420 million people who rely on it for food, water, bathing, and agriculture. And that is not to mention the tens of millions of pilgrims who venture to India's most holy of rivers each year to bathe and worship.

This page contains some graphic imagesSo
with such a massive influence on the local and national population, why
is it that the river is so completely and utterly disgusting?
</div>

Well this is a question that is asked everyday and to help answer it we first need to take a look at a few facts. This article quote is not working well with the blog platform.

Approximately 1 billion litres of raw, untreated sewage are
dumped in the river on a daily basis. The amount has more than doubled
in the last 20 years and experts predict another 100% increase in the
following 20 years.

The rapid explosion of India's population in
the last 25 years coupled with lax regulations on industry has put a
huge strain on the river.

Thousands of bodies are cremated on the banks of the river yearly with many being released into the river with hopes that their souls may have a direct path to heaven.

Hundreds Unwanted or 'illegitimate' babies, cattle and other
animal carcases are also dumped in the Ganges again with religious
significance

The levels of Coliform bacteria is over 2800 times the level considered safe by the W.H.O (world health organization."

Now you know why I do not sell products from either India or China.

My Standards for products I sell:

I do not sell anything grown from India. China is not much better..
I do not sell anything not tested and bottled here in the United States.
The New Sun herbs that I sell have strict, comprehensive testing on all their bulk product. They bottle their own products in the US after extensive testing on each new shipment.

The labs here in the US have much more oversight than labs in those countries. Very little Moringa comes from the United States. Most of it is imported. The important thing, no matter where it comes from, is that the product needs to be tested in the Us for its nutritional value and for E-Coli and other contamination FIRST before being bottled. I know one Moringa seller who imports it in bulk, irradiates it, then bottles it himself. He complains to me how bad most of the stuff from India is but still buys it that way, because it is so cheap. Do I have proof of what he is doing? No. I only know what he tells me. He is an expert on growing the trees so that is how I know him. What do you think about the quality of that product without testing before it is packaged by him at his office? I would not buy his product he sells. Mouse parts and insect parts that are ground into bulk product is hard to detect. Even if it is irradiated, it is still in the product. Only lab tests can detect it.

So Organic certified rice for instance can still contain arsenic. Most of the organic rice raised both here and from China does contain a certain amount of arsenic. This is fact folks. Rice grown in the southern US has more arsenic than the rice grown in China because of cotton that was raised on the fields for years. Rice absorbs arsenic. The rice with the least arsenic is grown in California.This is an example of one food that is very popular but contains arsenic.

If Moringa is grown with polluted water, then it will take up some of that pollution. Would you want to eat food grown from the Ganges irrigation water?

The article about India states clearly that420 million people rely
on the Ganges for food, water, bathing and agriculture. "Agriculture includes crops like herbs, spices, and Moringa trees.

Honduras and Nicaragua have much better environmental conditions for growing anything. Honduras is where our product comes from but is still tested by our lab here in the US. I have to question anyone buying Moringa from India or China, organic certified or not!

Please read the hold notice for the FDA shown below. You will then know why I am so adamant about this subject. This is all for this blog today.
Thanks for your support,

Kate Freer, The herbladyisin

Hold Notice On Organic Certified Moringa shipment:

United States Food and Drug Administration

Notice of FDA Action
Southwest Import District

FDA will not request redelivery for examination or sampling, if the products not released by FDA are moved, following USCS conditional release to a location within the local metropolitan area or to a location approved by the FDA office at the number below.All products in this entry not listed above may proceed without FDA examination. This notice does not constitute assurance the products involved comply with provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or other related acts, and does not preclude action should the products later be found violative.
H87-0186115-0
Entry Number:
February 18, 2011
Notice Number:
Date Received: January 28, 2011
Port of Entry:
2501, San Diego, CA
Arrival Date:
January 27, 2011
BRITISH AIRWAYS;
Carrier:
G-9
2
Ferrer Brokers
9840 Via De La Amistad
Suite B
San Diego, CA 92154
Filer:
Broker Box:NATALIA
Attention: Importer of Record: Lona Cathryn Freer, Alpine, CA 91901-5409

FDA will not request redelivery for examination or sampling, if the products not released by FDA are moved, following USCS conditional release to a location within the local metropolitan area or to a location approved by the FDA office at the number below.
All products in this entry not listed above may proceed without FDA examination. This notice does not constitute assurance the products involved comply with provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or other related acts, and does not preclude action should the products later be found violative.
H87-0186115-0
Entry Number:
February 18, 2011
Notice Number:
Date Received: January 28, 2011
Port of Entry:
2501, San Diego, CA
Arrival Date:
January 27, 2011
BRITISH AIRWAYS;
Carrier:
G-9
2
Ferrer Brokers
9840 Via De La Amistad
Suite B
San Diego, CA 92154
Filer:
Broker Box:
NATALIA
Attention:
Importer of Record: Lona Cathryn Freer, Alpine, CA 91901-5409
Lona Cathryn Freer, Alpine, CA 91901-5409
Consignee:DETENTION
The following products are subject to refusal pursuant to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA

DETENTION
The following products are subject to refusal pursuant to the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA),
Public Health Service Act (PHSA),or other related acts in that they appear to be adulterated, misbranded or
otherwise in violation as indicated below:
Line ACS/FDA
Product Description
Respond By
001/001ORGANIC MORINGA LEAF
POWDER

March 11, 2011
You have the right to provide oral or written testimony, to the Food & Drug Administration, regarding the
admissibility of the article(s) or the manner in which the article(s) can be brought into compliance. This testimony must be provided to FDA on or before the dates shown above.
Please direct your response to:
Brett W. Podoski, Compliance Officer (CTNH)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
9777 Via De La Amistad, Rm. 128
San Diego, CA 92154
(619) 661-3250 ext. 117
(619) 661-3195 (FAX)
BRETT.PODOSKI@FDA.HHS.GOV
2 Page:
Notice Prepared For: The District Director, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Notice Prepared By: CAW
FD&CA Section 501(a)(2)(A), 801(a)(3); ADULTERATION

The article appears to have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.

Actual charge: 501(a)(1) Filth findings: sample was found to contain over 1800 insect fragments in six subs examined for an average of 300 insect fragments per sub. One sub also contained 3 rat/mouse hair fragments.

FD&CA Section 502(b)(2), 801(a)(3); MISBRANDING
The article is in package form and appears to not have a label containing an accurate statement of the quantity of the contents in terms of weight, measure or numerical count and no variations or exemptions have been prescribed by regs. The quantity of contents statement on the product labeling is listed in grams only and lacks the US customary terms of avoirdupois pounds and ounces.
FD&CA Section 505(a), 801(a)(3); UNAPPROVED NEW DRUG

The article appears to be a new drug without an approved new drug application. Product making drug claims: per website www. murungaproducts.com - prevents 300 diseases, stablizing refer website www. murungaproducts.com - prevents 300 diseases, stablizing effect on blood pressure, and control of glucose levels in diabetes.

( This website was hosted in India where they use herbs and Moringa
to prevent disease and health problems. In their website they state
health claims. This is a violation in the US. )

The FDA threat against herbalists or anyone speaking out on herbal health:

NOTICE:

I do not sell Moringa products as of Sept, 2016. I am working on a project that demands an unbiased viewpoint.

Thanks, Kate Freer, The Herbladyisin

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Moringa: Super Nutritious Food for Your Pets and Livestock

Jack our Aussie who passed away. He was so easy to give supplements too. He just chowed it down.

How will Moringa help your animals?

This is a question that I get asked often. One of the important uses
for Moringa is as animal food. It is fed to livestock in the countries
where it grows naturally. This is because of the exceptional nutritional
value that it offers to both humans and animals.

How much to feed your animals?

It would vary from a 1/2 tsp to 2 tsp depending on the size of the dog and how well he will eat it. If its the fresh leaves, a branch or handful. Again it depends on the animal, the size, and how well he eats it.

Remember this is a FOOD...a super nutritious food not a drug or medicine like garlic. If your animal has a sensitive stomach, try a pinch or small amount first. Animals are individual just like their humans.

It is well known that commercial dog and cat food, even the expensive ones, are deficient in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and most all of the nutrients they need. Moringa fills in their nutrition. It helps them to be healthier. With chickens, it helps them to lay better. With goats and dairy animals it improves milk production. By the way when I had my two goats, they loved eating the fresh Moringa leaves. It is especially important to old or sick dogs that may not eat well because of ill health. It can help them stay younger, longer. One of the reasons I send free seeds with my orders, is that I want you to grow a few trees for yourself. I want you to experience taking the fresh leaves off the trees and dropping them into your salad. You can grow a few seedlings for the cats to eat, they will any way, and a few for you. Most of you will not live in areas where you can grow them all year but you can grow them as a seasonal crop as you do any crop like peas or beans. They will grow beautifully in the heat. They love hot weather but not wind and sand storms as we have in Nevada. The wind right now is redistributing anything in its way, all over the yard. I find things from all my neighbors as well. It blows up to 60 miles an hour often here.

Smokey, our Moringa killer. At least he eats the seedlings after he pulls them up. He is quite skilled at opening the wire panel to get to my plants. We love him anyway. My husband finally found a way to stop his raids when we go to bed.

Dogs and Cats: It depends on how picky your animals are. We have a little dog who turns up his nose to almost everything. I put it into my omelets, then hand feed him pieces. He then gets Moringa that way. Our big dog used to eat it mixed in his dog food. The powder is easier to get down a picky eater.

Veggies protected by either chicken wire or plastic fencing from all the creatures.

Cats: One way to get your cats to eat Moringa is to just grow the seedlings, then leave them unattended. I can guarantee that they will eat them. It does kill the tree but they get some good nutrition, so not all is lost. Our cats have eaten a few plants lately. Even though I had the area blocked off, our male cat got very skilled at moving the wire divider panel. He ate three in one setting, before I caught him. It is much better for them than cat grass. Don't let them near plants you want to keep growing. They will also dig in soil where the plants are growing, destroying them one way or another. I grow the trees in 20 or 33 gal containers. Then I put a fence around them so the cat cannot jump up.

Our Angora rabbits who love fresh stuff including Moringa leaves

Livestock: I feed fresh Moringa leaves, when I have enough, to my chickens and rabbits. I also give them my home grown kale, collards, and Swiss chard. Fresh veggies have enzymes which pellet food does not. I am trying to grow enough food to wean my livestock off commercial food altogether. I have not accomplished that completely yet. You can also tell when your rabbit is off their feed. If they don't run to eat the fresh stuff, then it is time to see what's wrong.

Goats, Donkeys, Cattle: Livestock love Moringa leaves. They also love a lots of your plants that you don't want them to eat as well. I have seen blogs where it is shown how much donkeys and mules love it too. It is really tough to protect the trees from these guys. They are very intent on breaking down fencing. I got rid of my goats because I was not strong enough to really keep them controlled. They ate everything....! They needed a younger, stronger owner.

Chickens and Ducks: If you leave Moringa trees with the chickens, they will not last long. I have all my veggies fenced off from my chickens, ducks, and the quail. They love fresh stuff. Here is Nevada there is not much in green stuff for them to forage so they go after the garden. I could fence them all up and not worry but I love watching them forage on the property. They eat the red ants and the bugs. They trim off the bottom of the Elm trees. They do a real good job at keeping things in balance. So I just fence off what I want to save.

Wild Things: Moringa is a food and all the little creatures such as chipmunks, wild rabbits, quail, and other creatures will eat your trees. So put protection around the area where ever you plant the trees. I am sure gophers would eat them too, although we don't have any here.This is one advantage here...no gophers. The huge amount of quail make up for it. I love the quail. I could fence them out of the property altogether but that would be sad. I love watching them and hearing them call.

So I hope this answers your questions. I give Moringa is one form or another to all my animals.
God Bless you all
Kate Freer, the herbladyisin

NOTICE:

I do not sell Moringa products as of Sept, 2016. I am working on a project that demands an unbiased viewpoint.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

A Tribute To Jack, Our Australian Shepherd. He Lost His Last Battle

It has been a few weeks since I have posted a blog. I took time off to grieve and rest. If you have read some of my other blogs, Jack was our Australian Shepherd. He was a beloved part of our family for 6 years. We adopted him as a save dog already ill with Dysplasia and chronic ear problems. When we got Jack, he could hardly walk. I had worked with Dysplasia before so I was pretty confident I could help him. As an herbalist, I found natural products to deal with both problems. He did exceptionally well using alternative medicines.

Jack did well with with a good quality of life until February when he had his first seizure out of the blue. We consulted a vet who told us he was not in good enough shape to give him the standard therapy of drugs. The vets here were not into alternative therapies. They advised us to put him down. Drugs are advised when the dog is young and is good condition other than seizures. Jack was not a young dog. The alternative therapy for his Dysplasia was not a cure but only slowed down the eventual progression of the disease. It bought time for Jack. At this time, alternative treatments had given him 6 more years with a good quality of life. We took him home to think about it.

My husband and I talked about it and it was decided to try him on alternative medicine first to see if we could find the answer to his seizures. I researched the subject for a week. There were dogs who were on alternative medicine for seizures that were doing well. He was then put on a program including supplements and dog food that was grain free and very expensive. Until April 23rd he only was having a seizure every two weeks or so and seemed to be pulling out of them in good shape....so there was time for the program to work. He went through most of April without a seizure, so we felt we were winning the fight for his life.

Then on the morning of the 23rd he suffered through another seizure at around 9 am in the morning. I went through the regimen indicated to try and prevent another one. He came out of it well. With each seizure, it sets up a program in the dog's brain for more seizures. If they have seizures too close together, called cluster seizures, it fries their brain. The brain has no time to recoup between seizures and it damages the brain. So it is important to prevent another seizure within a 24 hour period. I watched him throughout the day. At 8 pm that night, I gave him supplements that calm the brain down, helping to prevent the night seizures. Seizures are more frequent at night when they have been sleeping. Seizures can have more than 20 causes. Most of the time, vets never find out for sure. I have since talked to owners who spent thousands of dollars with no answers and little success after drug treatment.

Then that night beginning at 12 midnight, he endured seizure after seizure....cluster seizures. Nothing that was advised worked. At 8 am he had another one, a terrible one on the kitchen floor. He hit his head on the hard floor. I had been outside feeding the chickens and come back in after the seizure had already started. I could do nothing but try and slide padding under his head. When he came out of the seizure, he was out of it, weakened, and compromised. The number of seizures all at once had fried his brain. The seizures had left him in an awful condition.

We took him into the vet after the 8 AM seizure who is many miles away. My husband had to get permission from his job to help me take him in. It took help to get him into the car. He was hurting and barely able to walk. The vet said there was nothing to do but put him to sleep. He was in bad shape after the night of seizures. So we made one of the hardest decisions in years, to put jack down. We stayed there as they administered the lethal injection. He was gone in seconds being so weak to begin with. It was a quiet death after a horrible assault from the seizures. After he was buried, we took the plastic off the floors protecting the carpet from the body fluids that happen during a seizure. The house had looked like we were painting for weeks. The problem with seizures is that from one minute to the next, you have no idea when they will start. There are a few signs such as agitation but the actual seizure can be hours away. All we could do was cry. I felt I had failed him this time, even though we had given him the best shot at stopping them. We had done our best but it was not good enough.

I think when you are a healer, losing a patient is much worse. Through the years, I have saved a majority of the animals that got sick. I have lost only a couple. I have worked through distemper and Parvo years ago. Jack had 6 years of quality life through alternative therapies that treated his Dysplasia and ear infections. We were told each time there was nothing they could do, so put him down. This time I lost the battle to save him.

Our other dog refused to eat for two weeks. We were all grieved. He was such an awesome dog who waited at the gait for my husband to come home every night. He slept at the foot of our bed. He was the watch dog and the leader of the two. Pringles, our Laso, has been lost without Jack. Losing Jack tore our hearts out. Seeing my husband and our other little dog so distraught tore my heart up. I have not been able to write since it happened. I know some of you wrote me, asking what happened with Jack. I believe in writing the truth. This time we lost the battle. Alternative medicine, no matter how good, cannot always work. It did work for 6 years. There is also a time for animals and people to go. I do believe that dogs go to heaven. What would heaven be without our animals. It was his time to go.

He was an awesome Aussie.

Here is a comfort story sent to me...author unknown. I know many of you have lost a dog or cat that you loved. If you have never read this, it is beautiful. I did not write it but am sharing it with you my readers. There are several versions of this piece but this one seemed to give me the most peace.

The Rainbow Bridge

Author unknown

Just this side of heaven in a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. Just this side of Rainbow Bridge, there are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who were ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them who had to be left behind.

They run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent and his eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly he begins to run from the group flying over the green grass, his legs carying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted. When you and your friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous rreunion; never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head; and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart..

Jack was an awesome dog and will be waiting at the gate for us someday. Rest is peace Jack....
You were so loved. Pringles wants you to know he misses you too. He is eating now because he has figured out he has to be the strong one now protecting the house. He doesn't know quite what to do with no one to steal his food when he isn't watching....but he is learning. Healing of the heart takes time for both humans and animals.

About Me

Freelance Writer, researcher, Master Herbalist, Health Counselor with 25 years of background in alternative medicine and herbs. Studied under the late Bernard Jensen, the father of Iridology and Keith Smith a Master Herbalist in Escondido, CA. Master Herbalist from Dominion Herbal College in Canada in 1986.

I have written articles for both my websites and AC Content over the
past few years.. The Yahoo writers platform closed down on Aug 1st,
2014. All contributing writers profiles and published articles were
removed.

Moringa and Healing Herbs (our business for a few years) was retired due to problems with growing the trees and getting acceptable product. It just didn't fit our new lives in TN. It took a long time to figure out what our new direction should be.

Greatly Blessed Medicinal Herbs and More is our new business started in Oct of this year, 2017, with a new business license. It reflects are new goals and interests including writing still.

My husband and I love to grow herbs and organic veggies in Indian Mound, TN. This is our permanent new home since Jan 13th, 2015. We live outside of Clarksville, TN in the rural area on 17 acres with a new garden, chicken house and yard, areas for herbs and elderberry bushes. It is so beautiful and green. We have so much rain and water here. Our well flows giving us such security. It is home now and it is our peace.

Since moving back to Tenn, we are now working on my business both online and through the community. Due to taking care of my husband's father, he became priority over the business the past three years. It has been a slow journey. We are a Independent representative for Nature's Sunshine Herbs. Along with that I look forward to our backyard nursery officially opening this Spring, 2018. I have always loved to grow things for our family and believe in growing as much as possible in your own family garden. The past two years we have slowly worked on projects moving toward that goal. The last step in this dream is to get our nursery license early in the new 2018 year. Once we have that we can begin in Spring selling plants. There could be delays so I will update this after we have our nursery license.

I no longer sell Moringa products or trees. I have not found them to grow here even as a house tree. I have decided to go in the direction of Moringa education rather than sales. Moringa has become popular. With popularity, comes both ethical sellers and sellers who are selling unsafe products. Some of the claims made for Moringa are not valid.

There needs to be someone who educates customers on Moringa with truth. I decided to move on with that goal. I stopped selling Moringa so I can educate people from an unbiased frame of reference.